New WSM 22 - Pork butt as first cook!

[Chris Gentile]

Hey all - my wife got me a 22 for Christmas and I did my first smoke yesterday. I chose pork butt because it’s forgiving from what I read. I loved the process and was satisfied with the end result.

That said, for the life of me, I couldn’t get the temp down to 225. It stayed at a constant 275. I had all the vents but the top one closed with no luck. It still came out good but I’d like to know what I was doing wrong.

I only had a 3.5 pound of pork butt in so was it possible I used too much charcoal? Or could it be because it’s brand new and not fully sealed yet? Or both for that matter?

 

[Mark Foreman]

on my 22, I only use a couple of lite coals when i start then sneak up on the desired temp. I also gasketed the door, that helped a lot.
once I add the lite coals, I begin to close vents at around 200f. Wait 15 minutes after any adjustments to see where the temps settle or you’ll chase it all day. I have had time where 2 of 3 bottom vents are closed.

as to the 275, that’s a good temp for pork. I shoot for 250. Any temp 25 or 25 under is ok and will not affect your cook with the possible exception of time. My 22 loves to cook at about 265.

 

[Jon in DFW]

Final product came out looking great!!!

I personally use the water pan when I cook and find its much easier to keep low Temps, then when I want to cook over 300° I go no water in the pan.

You should get a better seal as some cooks go by and more creosote buildup happens at the connections.

 

[Colin]

Welcome to the forum Chris and congratulations on your new WSM and successful first cook.
I will certainly second the advise above.

 

[Joe T Gomez]

Looks very good Chris once you do a few more cooks it will settle down to a certain temp by itself do the gasket on the door and the gasket on the lid and It will help you control your heat I don’t use a water pan at all I have a heat deflector on mine

 

[Joe T Gomez]

Did you wrap it at all with foil or butcher paper

 

[Bruno]

Gasket the lid and the door is the only thing that worked for me. Do it now while its still clean. The 22 likes to run in that range which is actually probably just fine for pork shoulder and especially ribs.

 

[Garvin R]

Congrats on your 22!

Scott

 

[John K BBQ]

on my 22, I only use a couple of lite coals when i start then sneak up on the desired temp. I also gasketed the door, that helped a lot.
once I add the lite coals, I begin to close vents at around 200f. Wait 15 minutes after any adjustments to see where the temps settle or you’ll chase it all day. I have had time where 2 of 3 bottom vents are closed.

as to the 275, that’s a good temp for pork. I shoot for 250. Any temp 25 or 25 under is ok and will not affect your cook with the possible exception of time. My 22 loves to cook at about 265.

Congrats on the first cook - looks awesome!. Mark's comments are spot on - if you light too many coals to start with, getting the cooker to cool down is very difficult regardless of what you do with vent settings. Go check this link out for more details on lighting the WSM off the right way

Firing Up Your Weber Bullet 1/2 - The Virtual Weber Bullet

How to fire-up the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker using the Standard Method, in which all charcoal is hot and ashed over before cooking begins."

www.virtualweberbullet.com

 

[Russ in CFL]

Chris, do you have an 18 as well? I'm curious on your thoughts on charcoal consumption versus the 22. I've been told the 22 burns much more.

 

[Lew Newby]

Chris, do you have an 18 as well? I'm curious on your thoughts on charcoal consumption versus the 22. I've been told the 22 burns much more.

The volume that you heat in the 18 is approximately 9400 cubic in.. The volume of the 22 is approximately 16,700 cubic in. Those numbers are approximate but do show the relative difference in size. That's approximately 54% more volume that you heat and one reason for the increased consumption.

 

[Russ in CFL]

True but it holds more charcoal so I would think it to be relative. I realize more overall charcoal is used but the way it was explained to me by my buddy is he had to refill more times with the 22. That is what I'm curious about.

 

[Lew Newby]

True but it holds more charcoal so I would think it to be relative. I realize more overall charcoal is used but the way it was explained to me by my buddy is he had to refill more times with the 22. That is what I'm curious about.

Sorry. I never used refills to calculate consumption - just pounds. I'm afraid I don't know how to answer to your question.

 

[Jeff Boudman]

That is what I'm curious about.I’ve done three 3 butt cooks on my 22 and I had leftover charcoal when I used B&B Competition and Blues Hog briquettes. but ran out of fuel with KBB. I was filling the charcoal all three times. So, the quality of the charcoal makes a difference.

I have used my 22 for three 3 butt cooks. and only filled the OEM charcoal ring. I used B&B Competition on my first cook and Blues Hog briquettes on my second and had charcoal leftover. I used KBB on my third cook and it turned to ash before my cook was finished. So, quality of the fuel is important.
Unlike the 18, the 22 has a flat bottom water pan and there is about 8 inches between the water pan and the top of the charcoal ring. You can add a lot of charcoal above the ring. Or, you can buy the Cajun Bandit extended ring.

 

[Brad Olson]

Nice first cook, Chris! As Mark alluded, a pork butt is really forgiving and can handle a fairly wide temperature range (as you found out).

The volume that you heat in the 18 is approximately 9400 cubic in.. The volume of the 22 is approximately 16,700 cubic in.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Newby and will be teaching this semester of Geometry 101."

 

[Tony-Chicago]

Well after calculating some formula, and doing some knuds approximations, my brain shut off. Then i was determined to find the surface area. Which is what radiates the heat. Then again, ran into issues. Course the 22 usually is cooking more food so...
While volume should increase more than area, giving the 22 the edge, what are the cylinder dimensions for the flat dimensional analysis. So yeah, two bits four bits six butts or 8 butts.
Thank lord I don't teach stem. Oh wait

 

[BFletcher]

Congrats on your WSM gift and a terrific first smoke! Out of curiosity, how many lit coals did you start with? Along with sound advice given above, it's possible that by reducing your number of lit coals you can hone-in on 225f if that's what you want.